I’d
gone, by accident: Evernight Academy, specifically the gargoyle that had
perched outside my bedroom.
I drifted into foggy darkness, and at frrst the sensation
was deliciously like sleep, so tempting. But my mind remained focused on the
gargoyle.
I’d spent so much time looking at his gap — fanged grin that
I could picture him perfectly: stony claws, hunched back, pointy wings. Briefly
I imagined the way the stone had felt beneath my hands, cold and hard — Then I
could feel it.
The world clarified around me. I perched atop the gargoyle,
which would ‘ve been massively uncomfortable if I’d been alive but was fine now
that I could float when I wanted. Curlicues of frost streaked across the
windows, heralding the presence of a wraith.
Would my parents see it? They had the first time I’d
accidentally come here. Instead of realizing it was me, though, they’d freaked
out, believing the frost came from yet another of the ghosts that had invaded
Evernight.
Not invaded, I reminded myself. Drawn here, because of the
students. Brought here specifically by Mrs. Bethany. I had to remain on my
guard.
I heard nothing from the apartment. Probably my parents were
downstairs, helping Mrs. Bethany welcome the students. Looking downward, I
could see that the first few people had already begun to arrive. Mostly humans
at this point, too noisy and too happy — but every once in a while silent, dark
— clad figures would sweep thro111gh the crowd as though they belonged here
more than anyone else. They did belong here more; they were the vampires.
Quickly I shimmered along the side of the building, invisible
except for the trails of frost I left behind. At first I just wanted to get a
better view, but then I realized: Something felt odd about the school.
Well, big surprise. Evernight Academy was pretty much made
of odd. This was different, though, something I had never sensed before — as
if, in places, the school was pushing back at me, trying to keep me out.
Probably it was something only the wraiths could feel. In those places, I felt
as though I was being watched right through the walls. Curious, I whisked along
the side of the building, leaving trails of frost on the windows in my wake.
Although there were places I could get into the school, there were places that
I couldn ‘t. And one place — the area at the very top of the south tower, right
above my parents’ apartment — felt shut off to me completely, in a way that
gave me cold shivers.
So don’t go there, I told myself. It’s not like you’ve ever
had a single reason to go up there before. As long as you can get in anywhere
in the building, you can get to Lucas. Nothing else matters.
However, the knowledge of that strange forbidding energy
made me uneasy. I darted downward again, the better to get away from it, and to
watch the arrivals, which was what I needed to be paying attention to anyway.
As I focused again on the group, I saw my first familiar
face and felt a warm glow of happiness that could ‘ve been a smile. Patrice!
Patrice Deveraux, my roommate during my first year at
Evernight, stepped out of a lean gray Lexus. Her tailored version of the school
uniform made her look sophisticated and trim, even in a kilt and sweater, and
her hair now bounced with its natural curl, a thick dark halo that suited her.
She’d skipped last year to have fun in Scandinavia with her new guy, but one or
the other of them must have broken it off — probably Patrice, who seemed to
think of men primarily as fashion accessories.
Despite her obsessions with appearances and luxury, Patrice
had a fundamental grit that made me like her. Sort of to my surprise, she’d
tried to reach out to me during the summer after I’d run away, proving that she
wasn’t as thoughtless as she could sometimes seem. It made me happy to remember
that not every vampire at Evernight Academy was sinister and forbidding.
Besides, this was the first time I’d seen her since I’d died.
gone, by accident: Evernight Academy, specifically the gargoyle that had
perched outside my bedroom.
I drifted into foggy darkness, and at frrst the sensation
was deliciously like sleep, so tempting. But my mind remained focused on the
gargoyle.
I’d spent so much time looking at his gap — fanged grin that
I could picture him perfectly: stony claws, hunched back, pointy wings. Briefly
I imagined the way the stone had felt beneath my hands, cold and hard — Then I
could feel it.
The world clarified around me. I perched atop the gargoyle,
which would ‘ve been massively uncomfortable if I’d been alive but was fine now
that I could float when I wanted. Curlicues of frost streaked across the
windows, heralding the presence of a wraith.
Would my parents see it? They had the first time I’d
accidentally come here. Instead of realizing it was me, though, they’d freaked
out, believing the frost came from yet another of the ghosts that had invaded
Evernight.
Not invaded, I reminded myself. Drawn here, because of the
students. Brought here specifically by Mrs. Bethany. I had to remain on my
guard.
I heard nothing from the apartment. Probably my parents were
downstairs, helping Mrs. Bethany welcome the students. Looking downward, I
could see that the first few people had already begun to arrive. Mostly humans
at this point, too noisy and too happy — but every once in a while silent, dark
— clad figures would sweep thro111gh the crowd as though they belonged here
more than anyone else. They did belong here more; they were the vampires.
Quickly I shimmered along the side of the building, invisible
except for the trails of frost I left behind. At first I just wanted to get a
better view, but then I realized: Something felt odd about the school.
Well, big surprise. Evernight Academy was pretty much made
of odd. This was different, though, something I had never sensed before — as
if, in places, the school was pushing back at me, trying to keep me out.
Probably it was something only the wraiths could feel. In those places, I felt
as though I was being watched right through the walls. Curious, I whisked along
the side of the building, leaving trails of frost on the windows in my wake.
Although there were places I could get into the school, there were places that
I couldn ‘t. And one place — the area at the very top of the south tower, right
above my parents’ apartment — felt shut off to me completely, in a way that
gave me cold shivers.
So don’t go there, I told myself. It’s not like you’ve ever
had a single reason to go up there before. As long as you can get in anywhere
in the building, you can get to Lucas. Nothing else matters.
However, the knowledge of that strange forbidding energy
made me uneasy. I darted downward again, the better to get away from it, and to
watch the arrivals, which was what I needed to be paying attention to anyway.
As I focused again on the group, I saw my first familiar
face and felt a warm glow of happiness that could ‘ve been a smile. Patrice!
Patrice Deveraux, my roommate during my first year at
Evernight, stepped out of a lean gray Lexus. Her tailored version of the school
uniform made her look sophisticated and trim, even in a kilt and sweater, and
her hair now bounced with its natural curl, a thick dark halo that suited her.
She’d skipped last year to have fun in Scandinavia with her new guy, but one or
the other of them must have broken it off — probably Patrice, who seemed to
think of men primarily as fashion accessories.
Despite her obsessions with appearances and luxury, Patrice
had a fundamental grit that made me like her. Sort of to my surprise, she’d
tried to reach out to me during the summer after I’d run away, proving that she
wasn’t as thoughtless as she could sometimes seem. It made me happy to remember
that not every vampire at Evernight Academy was sinister and forbidding.
Besides, this was the first time I’d seen her since I’d died.
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